UFC brass expect the pay-per-view broadcast of UFC 168: Weidman vs. Silva 2 to be one of the promotion's best selling events. Lafayette native Dustin Poirier's bout with Deigo Brandao leads off the card featuring the highly anticipated middleweight title rematch, and Poirier knows he needs to put on a show.

"There's going to be over a million eyes watching me perform," Poirier said. "I know it's important for my fan base and for my stock as a fighter.

"I've got to go out there and perform to the best of my abilities and get this win."

In order to secure that win Saturday in Las Vegas, Poirier (14-3) will have to defeat Brandao (22-8) a former winner of the promotion's reality show, "The Ultimate Fighter." Poirier described Brandao as "dangerous." That bout starts off at 9 p.m. CT.

"I'll have to use my boxing and footwork to stay on the outside and not brawl with him," Poirier said. "He's a black belt in Jiu-Jitsu, so just be really careful if it does hit the mat.

"But you know man, I'm confident everywhere. I really fell like I'm a better fighter. I've been working really hard, getting prepared for this fight. And I'm just read to fight and go out there and do it."

Poirier trains out of Florida after spending the early years of his career training in his hometown of Lafayette. He said he had good training partners in Lafayette just not enough of them.

"There's not enough full-time professional fighters," he said. "To make a run at this you have to be surrounded by guys who are the best. I can't wait for guys to get off of work after working all day and maybe they'll come to the gym if they're not too tired."

Though this fight falls just three days after Christmas, Poirier said the holidays didn't stop him from training.

"I didn't get to eat Thanksgiving, I'm missing Christmas," said Poirier, who flew to Vegas on Christmas Eve. "All of that stuff revolves around fighting. Fighting doesn't revolve around that stuff. I'm on a mission man."

UFC 168's card features several other high-profile matchups, including the rematch between middleweight champion Chris Weidman and former champion Anderson Silva. Weidman took the title from Silva earlier this year with a second-round knockout at UFC 162.

Ronda Rousey (7-0) defends her women's bantamweight championship against rival Miesha Tate (13-4). Rousey and Tate coached opposite teams of UFC prospects on the most recent season of "The Ultimate Fighter" and have faced each other before with Rousey notching the win via a first-round submission.